In the 24th year of Daoguang (1844), Li Hongzhang, 2 1 year-old, took the provincial examination in Shuntianfu and won the juren examination in one fell swoop. Compared with Jin Fan, who is still in his fifties, Li Hongzhang is a typical young man. He lived in Zeng Guofan's residence in Beijing and studied under Professor Zeng Guofan. He formally worshipped Zeng Guofan as a teacher the following year.
Zeng Guofan was a famous celebrity in the imperial court at that time. How did Li Hongzhang get involved with him? Because Li Hongzhang's father, Li Wenan, studied very late, he was not admitted to Jinshi until he was 37. Zeng Guofan was 27 years old among those admitted to Jinshi in the same year. In ancient times, it was a great "natural feeling" to enter the Jinshi examination together, which was equivalent to what modern people called "classmates" and what the ancients called "the same year".
Li Wenan and Zeng Guofan were in the same year, so Li Wenan's son joined Zeng Guofan as a "family friend". At that time, Zeng Guofan was just a four-product in terms of heaven, far less prominent than Xiang Qiwei and the governor of Liangjiang, but he already had deep majesty in front of people, especially his academic attitude made Li Hongzhang admire him very much.
Li Hongzhang later recalled his life experience and said, "I am not ambitious, but I am helpless. When I met a teacher, I made great progress in my study in my life. If I have an inch of merit in my life, I have to be given by my teacher. " "Teacher" here refers to Zeng Guofan. Li Hongzhang believes that Zeng Guofan laid the foundation for his life as a man, doing research and doing things.
What did Zeng Guofan teach Li Hongzhang to make him so grateful? You can see the clue from a small incident in the back. In the ninth year of Xianfeng (1859), Li Hongzhang entered Zeng Guofan's Xiang shogunate, served as an aide, made suggestions for his teachers, and drafted documents to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
At that time, there was an adjutant named Xue Fucheng in Zeng Guofan's shogunate. Xue Fucheng, we should be familiar with each other. As one of the representatives of the Westernization Movement, he appeared in the history textbooks of middle schools. He wrote a book called Yong 'an Notes, which recorded his own experiences, including the story of Li Hongzhang after he first entered Zeng Guofan's shogunate.
There is a very proud part of Li Hongzhang's character. He always does things in his own way. At that time, Zeng Guofan was very strict in running the army, stipulating that all soldiers must get up in Shi Mao for dinner, and all staff officers must enter his handsome account for breakfast in Shi Mao. The so-called five o'clock to seven o'clock in modern times, Zeng Guofan basically ordered breakfast at three o'clock, that is, around five forty-five.
However, Li Hongzhang slept since childhood. After he entered the shogunate of Zeng Guofan, although he knew there was such a ban, he ignored it. So Xiang soldiers ate breakfast, Li Hongzhang was still sleeping, and Zeng Guofan didn't eat in the handsome account. Instead, he kept urging Li Hongzhang and sent three troops to ask Li Hongzhang to eat.
Zeng Guofan said to Li Hongzhang, who arrived late, "Shao Quanlin, since you are in my play, I have something to say to you. There is only the word' sincerity' here. " He just gave Li Hongzhang the word "sincerity", but he scared Li Hongzhang into a cold sweat. From then on, he dared not sleep, and got into the habit of getting up at noon every day.
Why is the word "sincerity" so powerful? Because this is related to the practice of Confucian scholars, Confucianism pays attention to "self-cultivation, governing the country and leveling the world." How to cultivate one's morality? First of all, we must be sincere. "Sincerity" is the foundation of everything. Zeng Guofan used the word "sincerity" to point out Li Hongzhang, which means that he is too proud and lazy and has no sincerity, so it is difficult to achieve anything.
Li Hongzhang also immediately recognized Zeng Guofan's exhortation, and later successfully established some political achievements, which was called "Oriental Bismarck" by the world.
Li Hongzhang was late for a nap. Zeng Guofan said a word, which scared Li Hongzhang into a cold sweat and stopped taking a nap!